Marshawn Lynch has best practice day since return to team last week

Marshawn Lynch’s most recent of four consecutive, full practices was perhaps his best one yet.

So he appears on track to … well, let’s just wait and see.

Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Wednesday’s practice for Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game at Carolina was the best the star running back has looked since he rejoined the team Jan. 4. That was following five weeks of post-surgery rehabilitation and training for his repaired abdomen.

“He looks good,” Seattle’s play caller said. “I can’t judge each and every day, but probably one of the best days that he’s had out here. He’s in there. He’s moving around. He’s making more cuts. Probably a little bit more tempo to it as well.

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Offensive-line coach Tom Cable said Lynch looked “normal.” This is exactly what the Seahawks want and need against the top-seeded Panthers.

“Yeah, he’s a special player. He really has special talents,” Bevell said. “Just having him in there, you can tell the difference that he makes. He just has a different feel to him; he has different movements to him, makes cuts that really there’s not many guys in the league that can make cuts the way that he makes them, as we’ve all seen, and the balance that he has. He’s looking good.

“I would say that he had a little bit more pace, a little bit more tempo to him, even than he did at the end of last week.”

Asked if he was surprised Lynch said he didn’t feel he could play at Minnesota last weekend after full practice participation last week, Bevell said: “Surprise? Probably.

“He practiced the whole week. Only Marshawn knows how he’s feeling. It’s something that we can’t determine. I can’t determine it by even watching him. It’s a feel thing, and he had surgery. They cut on him. He has to have a feeling, he has to feel very confident that he’s going to be able to go out and do it.

“We don’t just want him to go in, have a couple plays and be done. We want him to be able to finish a game and continue to play. I think that’s what he’s trying to get a feel for.”

“Day to day is how we will do this, then we will evaluate the next day,” Carroll said of his star who hasn’t played since Nov. 15. “And we’ll see how it goes. But I think you can feel that he’s encouraged and we’ll go forward again to see if we can get that done.”

Christine Michael had 70 tough yards at Minnestoa on 21 carries with the temperature 6-below-zero as Lynch’s fill-in again. Michael would start against Sunday against the Panthers if Lynch can’t.

Wide receiver Doug Baldwin said it would be “huge” if Lynch could play at Carolina.

“Not only (with his running) but how that would raise morale in the huddle,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin, who got his 15th touchdown reception in 17 games last weekend, praised Michael for how he stepped up again in Lynch’s absence.

“But yes, of course we’d be ecstatic to have him back,” Baldwin said.

ALL-PRO SNUBS

After leading the league in fewest points allowed for the fourth consecutive regular season — something no team had done since the 1953-57 Cleveland Browns — the Seahawks did not have a single defensive player named Associated Press’ first-team All-Pro.

“Sometimes people get spoiled with greatness,” said Pro Bowl cornerback Richard Sherman, who was a first-team All-Pro last season.

EXTRA POINTS

TE Luke Willson, who has missed the past two games with a concussion, returned to full practice participation. … DE Michael Bennett did not practice to rest his troublesome toe, for which he had an injection last Wednesday then played at Minnesota — and dominated. … FB Will Tukuafu missed practice with a hamstring injury that limited him last weekend and led to more snaps for Derrick Coleman as Michael’s blocking back.